Nigel P Whilst the loose morals and superficial machinations of youthful Sixties' 'swinging London' are engagingly handled, it seems an age before someone suggests going to 'the old house' to liven up a tepid evening's entertainment.American singing sensation Frankie Avalon is top-billed Chris, but is more of a supporting character to the excellent Richard O'Sullivan's far more interesting Peter and Mark Wynter's two-timing Gary - at least for the first two thirds of the 92 minute running time. The girls, who are either predatory or naïve, include Sylvia (Gina Warwick), Dorothy (Carol Dilworth) and Madge (Veronica Doran). George Sewell looks menacing as Kellett, and Dennis Price is wasted as the Inspector - a role originally envisaged for Boris Karloff (although given Karloff's health during the late 1960s, it is difficult to imagine him in the role).Director and writer Michael Armstrong fails to inject many scares into this, and typically of Tigon's output at the time, the results could better be described as a fairly routine mystery than a horror (despite the premise).Tigon films were prolific at the time. Their horror output occasionally resulted in some excellent productions, including 'Witchfinder General (1968)', 'Blood on Satan's Claw (1970)' and 'The Creeping Flesh (1973)'. Although the cast try their best, this is fairly standard runaround stuff which, instead of getting more intriguing as things roll on, actually becomes less engaging.

BA_Harrison 60s beach movie sensation Frankie Avalon stars as Chris, one of a group of crazy, swinging London 'kids' who decide to split their dullsville house party for a more atmospheric locale, a run-down, supposedly haunted mansion in the countryside. Rather stupidly, the group decide to hold a séance at the stroke of midnight, after which one of their number is brutally killed in a frenzied knife attack. Is the killer the ghost of the maniac who once lived there, or has one of the friends flipped their wig, man?Haunted House of Horror is, for the most part, very tedious viewing thanks to its formulaic plot, bland dialogue and wooden performances from a cast that, with only a couple of exceptions, look too old for their roles (Avalon was pushing thirty!!!). A little fun can be had from the film's groovy sixties fashion—floral shirts, cravats, mini-dresses and go-go boots—but the film's only real selling point as far as I am concerned are a couple of surprisingly bloody deaths, particularly the last one in which the victim gets a kukri (a Nepalese knife with a large curved blade) rammed into his crotch. Nasty!

slick_moon Right. Where to begin? Let's start with the title. Although it's not possible to prove the house wasn't haunted, there is no evidence to suggest that it might be, either in the script or actually on screen. But that's not the only thing that makes no sense. Not by a long chalk. Sure there are continuity errors, such as the outside shots filmed in daylight supposed to take place during the pitch dark night, but the worst incongruities are in the plotting. Nothing anybody does or says makes any sense whatsoever. From discussing complicity in a covered up murder while standing outside a police station, to the clichéd girl who "just can't stand to be in this old house" with all her friends, who therefore elects instead to walk alone across a dark forest and hitchhike from the road while dressed as a sci-fi hooker. All that said, if you're the sort of person who reacts to the sight of a policeman saying "I know we're supposed to be ogres, but I assure you we're not biting today" by thinking "WTF? Since when are ogres famed for biting?" you might just enjoy it on as many levels as I did.

Michael_Elliott Haunted House of Horror, The (1969) * 1/2 (out of 4) Frankie Avalon and a group of friends are bored hanging out in an apartment so they go walk around a haunted house when one turns up butchered. Was a member of the group or perhaps a ghost? The only way to find out is by the group going back there at a later date to see once and for all. This British film from the Trigon Productions has a few interesting items but for the most part this thing is deadly dull from start to finish. I have an issue with many British horror films and that's because they talk and talk and talk and don't ever know when to shut up. That curse follows this film as we get plenty of talk and most of it has nothing to do with the main plot point of the film. The subplot involves a young woman trying to break free from a married man, which seems to be more fitted for a soap opera so why on Earth throw it into a slasher movie? The performances are okay for this type of film with Avalon leading the way and I'm sure he was the first to cash his paycheck. The film is great to look out with the wonderful colors and set design but you still need a story to make all of that count. There are a couple very bloody murders, which I was surprised to see and I'll give the filmmakers credit for the ending, which doesn't go the way you might expect. Even with that said this is a very hard film to get through because of how dull it is.